Shadowpact #10

Cursed: Part Two of the Demon Triptych

Bill Willingham Writer
Tom Derenick Penciller
Wayne Faucher Inker
Pat Brosseau Letterer
Mike Atiyeh Colorist
Joey Cavalieri Editor
Cover art by Tom Derenick & Wayne Faucher, colored by Mike Atiyeh

Our cover gives us a good idea of the kind of tone we can expect in this book. Although it does involve a lot of powerful magic-based heroes and villains and demons dealing with very serious life-and-death matters and trips to Hell, everything is handled with tongue firmly planted in cheek. It's an interesting concept, I'll admit, but I still don't think it's enough to overcome my innate indifference toward the supernatural.

We only care about one page in this comic, and that one page almost seems out of place, as it has nothing to do with the rest of the story here. Apparently in a previous issue, Shadowpact held a press conference laying out the three universal laws of superheroics. We don't get those laws listed out here, but I did find them on the internet: "1. the lives and safety of innocent bystanders will always be protected. 2. The lives and safety of you (the superhero) and members of your team will be protected to the extent that it does not conflict with the first law. 3. The lives and safety of all opponents will be protected to the extent that it does not conflict with the first two laws."

Apparently this announcement has made quite a splash in the media world, and we see journalists interviewing every superhero they can find about it. But none of them seem to be taking it seriously. Nightwing brushes the whole thing off, Zatara (speaking on behalf of the Teen Titans) cracks jokes about the three laws, as does the Flash, found on the streets with Superman and Wonder Woman.

And that's it. I really don't have anything to say about this issue, other than it almost feels out of continuity. Zatara left the Titans quite a while ago, and Bart certainly isn't a member of the Justice League, let alone routinely helping other heroes on missions. I'd guess that Bill Willingham and Joey Cavalieri weren't paying too close attention to the rest of the DC Universe and just threw in some characters they like for a quick gag.

Next time, we'll continue Inertia's battle against Bart's former teammates in Teen Titans #44.